Fatherly Bond
by PokeTail
Summary: After Deliora severed that bond, Gray never thought he could get close to anyone again. He tries to isolate himself from others, but one man isn't ready to give up on the raven any time soon. Will he melt the boys frozen heart, or will he only make things worse?


**WARNING: If you have not read Ice Trail there are major spoilers ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

 **This story takes place before the main where Ice Trail left off. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Ice Trail**

* * *

It had been a few weeks since Gray Fullbuster had joined the profound Fairy Tail guild. He had already formed a bond with the only other child in the guild, Cana Alberona. She was a very sweet and innocent girl. Gray had also learned that she had been a member of the guild for almost two years now; she must have been lonely. Gray was also well acquainted with a certain smoker of the guild, Wakaba Mine. They weren't exactly on the best of terms considering Wakaba was the cause of Gray and one of his old friends getting blown up by a dark guild, but that was all in the past... Sort of. Now Gray was welcome to the company of all his fellow guild mates, despite trying to isolate himself from others as much as possible. He enjoyed the odd brawl to prove his strength to others, much to the other members' annoyance. Sure, they knew that the guild broke out into fights every once in a while, but this kid was crazy. Makarov just smiled at the boys behaviour; he was definitely a feisty young lad.

Gildarts had finally returned from his many job requests he had set out to complete. He strode into the guild hall with his head held high and greeted the master before glancing over at a familiar face.

"Yo, Gray!" he called to the raven.

"Old man!" Gray cried, running over to him.

"So you finally made it to Fairy Tail in one piece huh?"

"Heh, he almost didn't," Makarov grinned towards the boy who smiled back sheepishly.

Gildarts looked the boy up and down, realised the few bandages rapped around his arms and head.

Makarov continued. "He got dragged into some trouble with Circus Knight and ended up challenging the guild master. He did well to stand his ground for as long as he did."

Gray looked away, annoyed at the reminder of his failure.

"Really?" Gildarts smiled. "Sounds like when I caught him facing off against the entirety of Five Bridge Familia."

"Hey, I coulda' won that fight if you hadn't interrupted," Gray protested.

"Haha, I'm sure you could. Look, how about tomorrow you and me go for a training day and you can show me what you got."

"Sure," Gray gave Gildarts and cheesy grin before returning to his brunette friend.

* * *

Soon after, Gray and Gildarts would have sparring matches whenever they weren't out on jobs. Gray loved it. The raven had been a complete mess after the loss of his parents, specifically his father. Gray's dad, Silver Fullbuster, was an impeccable fighter and used to take his son out for training sessions on weekends. Gray missed those times he used to spend with his family, so when Gildarts started training him, Gray felt he began to develop a fatherly bond with the man. But of course, all good things come to an end as the ice wizard is well aware. Everything changed when a certain pink haired boy joined the guild.

Gildarts was returning from another long few weeks of job requests and couldn't wait to finally get some time to relax and spend time with the guild's youngsters. Walking through the doors, he hurried over to the bar to grab a quick drink. Natsu was in the middle of being lectured by Erza as he had destroyed his clients house during his last job. As per usual, the salamander wasn't listening and his attention drew to Gildarts.

"Hey Erza, who's that?" Natsu asked.

"Oh, him? That's Gildarts. He's Fairy Tail's strongest wizard."

Natsu's eyes widened in amazement as a plan formed in his head. He darted forward, shoving straight past the raven who was headed in the same direction and came face to face with the strongest.

"Old man, fight me!" He roared.

"And who might you be kid?" Gildarts questioned, a grin spreading across his face.

"This is our newest recruit, Natsu," Makarov jumped up to the bar to sit in his usual spot.

"Fight me!" Natsu repeated.

Gildarts chuckled. "Why not, but we better go outside. Don't want the guild hall getting wrecked do we?"

"Alright!" Natsu raced to the door, quickly followed by Gildarts.

Gray stood and watched the entire incident, slightly frowning as Gildarts had told him they would go out fishing today. He quickly brushed the feeling aside, knowing Gildarts would return eventually for their fishing trip... But he never did.

After that day, Gray and Gildarts' time together lessened more and more. Once the Strauss siblings joined the guild and Happy was born, Gildarts would take Natsu, Lisanna and the flying cat out on day trips all the time. Once again, Gray felt that another close bond he'd formed had been ripped away from him, just as what had happened in the past. Gray would go on many more jobs than he used to in an attempt to stay away from the guild as much as possible.

* * *

A few weeks later, the day Gray despised more than anything turned up. The anniversary of his parents' death. For the past two years whenever the anniversary of his parents or Ur's death came along, Gildarts would be at his side to comfort him... but not this year. Gray was aware that Gildarts had taken Natsu, Lissana and Happy out on a camping trip, leaving Gray to sit by the riverside.

Alone

 _Crying_

The thousands of stars twinkled in the night sky, almost mocking him for his gloomy demeanour. The raven's face was moist with fresh treats that, no matter how hard he tried, wouldn't stop falling. This is why he isolated himself from people. Every time he gets close to someone, one way or another, that bind is taken away from him leaving him alone in his darkness. Gray was about to call it a night when...

"Yo," a voice called. He knew all too well who that voice belonged to.

"What... Are you doing here?" Gray asked through the occasional sniffs.

"I couldn't leave my favourite guy out alone could I?" Gildarts sat down next to the tearful boy.

"I thought you were with Natsu and the others?"

"I was, but I remembered that I have more important matters to attend to. Care to say what's on your mind?" Gildarts knew what today was for Gray and this was a question he asked every year. It was the only way to get Gray to open us as even Makarov believed that he froze his own heart to prevent getting hurt further.

More tears began falling from Gray's eyes. "Every time I get close to someone, I always end up losing them in some way or another. I'm tired of losing everyone I care about," he choked out.

Gildarts sighed. "This is about me spending more time with Natsu isn't it?"

Gray said nothing and continued to cry.

"Look, Gray. Just because I'm not spending as much time with you than I used to doesn't mean you've lost me. We'll always have our bond and our memories of each other. Some are happy memories... And some are a pain in the ass." He chuckled. "And with you parents and Ur, just because they are no longer in this world doesn't mean you have lost them. As long as you remember and honour the times you spent with them, the bond will always be there."

Gray turned to face Gildarts. Even more tears trickled down his face as he opening his mouth in an attempt to speak. Before he could, Gildarts rapped his arms around the boy and pulled him into a warm embrace. Gray finally let his body relax and let all his emotions burst out of him. For the first time since the death of his parents, Gray felt

 _Warmth_

Gildarts could feel the tremors in the raven's body as he held him tighter. He really hated seeing his friends so broken, but it was even worse when it was Gray. The boy had all the courage and determination in the world, so to see him like this was a drastic change to what others see of him on the outside. The two stayed like this for a good while, until Gildarts shifted Gray's weight to take a look at his face. The ice wizard's eyes were closed with tear stains running down his face. His breaths came out in silent puffs. He'd cried himself to sleep. This reminded Gildarts of when he first met the boy, fighting for what he believed was right and not caring who his opponent was. He was such a brave lad. But later that day, Gildarts had witnessed his emotion flood out of him and he had cried himself to sleep. Gildarts smiled towards Gray before picking him up and draping him over his back.

"C'mon kid, let's get you home."

No matter what anyone says, no one can break the fatherly bond.

* * *

 **I couldn't not write this after reading Ice Trail 'coz Gray and Gildarts must have been close after the stuff they went through together before Gray joined the guild. I was tempted to write a part for Cana in this, considering Gildarts is her actual father, but I had no idea where to go with it so I kept the focus on Gray instead.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to favourite etc.**

 **Thanks for reading! ;)**


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